VA Secretary reports on his first 100 days at National Press Club Luncheon

After 101 days on the job, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said major gains have been made in cutting backlogs and improving medical care at his scandal-scarred agency but he said a “change in culture” and new capabilities were needed to overcome its problems.

At a National Press Club Luncheon Nov. 7, McDonald took issue with Republican and veterans’ group critics that charge he has not moved aggressively enough against VA managers and employees allegedly responsible for covering up treatment delays and falsifying records.

“We know that trust has been compromised at the VA, and we have to earn it back,” McDonald declared.

Regaining that trust requires a culture change among the agency’s 340,000 employees to emphasize outcomes rather than process, McDonald said. “We need more doctors, more nurses, and, frankly, more money," he added.

A West Point graduate and former chief executive officer of Proctor & Gamble, McDonald took office July 29 after his nomination by President Barack Obama was confirmed 97-0 by the Senate.

The VA is the U.S. government’s largest health-care provider with 9 million veterans and their families on its treatment roles and a budget this year of $164 billion. That amount includes a $15 billion increase to hire more staff and pay private doctors for care not available at VA facilities. The additional funds were approved last summer after widespread reports of long delays and poor treatment at VA hospitals and clinics.

During the past four months, which include the tenure of acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson, McDonald said:

• More than 1.2 million more appointments were scheduled at VA clinics than during the same period last year.


• Wait-time for new patient primary care was reduced by 18 percent.


• Appointments for VA-funded care by outside medical facilities increased by 47 percent.

In Phoenix , where the most serious problems were reported, Mc Donald said a “surge” of personnel has reduced patient wait-times by 37 percent since June.

In addition, McDonald said top salaries have been raised to attract more doctors to Veterans hospitals and similar increases are planned to attract more nurses. The backlog in processing claims for veterans benefits has been reduced by 60 percent through using computer technology rather than paper forms, he said.

Replying to critics who charge he is moving too slowly to remove poorly-performing personnel, McDonald said about 2,000 disciplinary cases are now underway and about 100 employees are the targets of investigations, including by the FBI and the department’s independent inspector general.

Whistle-blowers who suffered reprisals have been put in “new and better jobs,” McDonald said, “and we have thanked them for their input.”

The shorter time for appeals, contained in last summer’s legislation to speed-up firings, applied to less than 1 percent of VA employees in top-tier management, he said. He did not want to jeopardize criminal investigations by taking administrative action too quickly, he said. “We are poised and ready to act” when investigations are completed, he said.